Memories were meant to fade


This morning I was musing on Facebook's Memories function. I really despise it every day when it suggests I have memories to view and share.

My sister calls it "Facebook's memory replacement service". I don't know why it bothers me but I concur with the sentiment in the film Strange Days (1995), where Mace says "Memories were meant to fade." It feels backward-looking to want to emphasise memories. I think it's a function of Facebook pandering to people's narcissism but maybe it's an extension of their data-mining?

The scene above from Strange Days above also features the "Right here, right now" used by Fatboy Slim to great effect, see below.

Modifyre



When I first attended Burning Seed there were a few hundred people. Then when I last attended Burning Seed there were a few thousand people. So it was fun to attend the Queensland regional burn event, Modifyre, earlier this month with only a few hundred. Above are some highlights.

Feather and Leaf at Roxy Gallery in Kyogle



On the way to the opening of Feather and Leaf, an exhibition led by Rebecca Tapscott which also features work by friends, I reflected on her exhibition in Wagga Wagga nearly a decade earlier.

Tapscott’s paintings share bold use of colour and landscape, often as backdrops for wry observations. In the artist statement on the wall in Kyogle she commented on the blend of colour and light, offset with an insight.

For example, at the 2007 exhibition at Charles Sturt University’s HR Gallop Gallery in Wagga there was a painting of a Bali scene in which a topless tourist shared the frame with a topless Hindi goddess. It captured a clash of cultures in a view still poignant from the bombings of 2005.

In the Kyogle exhibition this year there’s a painting of a large mob of crows flying above a landscape that reminds me of Wagga. In the artist’s statement Tapscott linkd this murder scene to the tally of women killed this year as a result of domestic violence.

Birds featured in the work of Tapscott’s friends and co-exhibitors Sonja Karl, Christina Reid, Jill Runciman and Erin Nolte. Painting dominated but other media were used, such as print. The greatest variety of mediums was demonstrated by Tapscott, who worked with ceramics in mugs and broaches, as well as a beaut metal cockatoo.

In her opening address, Ruth Tsitimbinis spoke of the local arts throughout the hills and valleys of the region. The diversity and variety in the birdlife in the exhibition formed a vibrant menagerie. The range of representations was highly stimulating.